I Didn't Read Anything this Week.

 Okay maybe I did on Monday, I finished reading a book either Sunday afternoon or Monday and I decided to take a break this week. I enjoy reading, it is one of my favorite past times and has been since I was a child but some weeks, my brain needs a break and even some silly YA/NA romance masquerading as a fantasy book cannot give it the break it needs. So I played some vids, and I colored my hair, and I did some chores that needed to be done and had a twelve-hour-long Miyazaki festival, but I mostly just disregarded the ten books I am currently reading because my eyes needed to rest. So no real update today just a I hope everyone had a restful week whatever that looked like to you!

Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Ubervilles by Kim Newman - A book "written" by bad guys for bad guys!

 

Writing as Col. Moran Newman has tunneled his inner killer and set out to write the story of Moriarty through the eyes of his right-hand man. Personally, I found this to be one of the more interesting retellings of Doyle's characters. 

Written very much in the same manner the original Sherlock tales are Col. Sebastion Moran takes us through his meeting Moriarty and becoming his personal assassin till the very end with Moriarty's fateful meeting with Sherlock in Switzerland by detailing a series of Moriarty's most puzzling and in the case of The Red Planet League most hilariously petty crimes. 

What I found to be the most interesting with this book is that at no point does Moran come across as anything other than what he actually is; a racist, homophobic, murdering bastard of a human. So often when an author tells the bad guys side of things they'll try to elicit some emotional response; if he had just had better parents, grew up in an abusive household, etc. Basically, it's not entirely the bad guy's fault they are a bad guy. Newman, however, doesn't take that route while he does give both Moriarty and Moran a kind of criminal moral code they are still just as evil at the end of the book as they were at the beginning. 

I also really enjoyed that Sherlock doesn't play any larger role in Moriarty's life than he did in Doyle's original books. Pop culture especially the latest BBC Sherlock (which is one of my favorite versions of Sherlock don't get me wrong) plays up a relationship between the two characters that didn't exist in the original books. I found it nice that this book wasn't a lot of fist-shaking with Moriarity saying "I'll get you, Sherlock!' Okay, Moriarty would never say something so plebeian but you get it. 

I should really rewatch this. 

And as with Anno Dracula Newman pulls in larger-than-life characters from across the Victorian world having their lives crash into Moran's and Moriarty's often with explosive results. 

Moral of the story: You'll find no morals in this book. Moran is a hateful murdering gun and Moriarty has his finger on the trigger. A really fun read that fits the phrase "guilty pleasure" to a T. 

A weekend off from reading to catch up on some Drama

I dedicated my weekend to doing something I normally don't do watch TV. I know I know I feel the same way you do:

But in my defense, Netflix decided to only upload two episodes of Bulgasal a week and I just really need to know who killed who, damn it. Plus, my brain needed a reading break. I've read thirteen books since Jan. 1st, which to many won't seem like a lot but when you are old and a good chunk of those have been on devices your eyes need to look at something other than small print on a screen. Plus, Lee Jin-Wook has literally the most amazing hair flip pretty much ever: 

See Most Amazing Hair Flip Ever.

I did, however, take time to finish a couple of books I had previously started Friday evening so I'll get the reviews up for those this week. And no I'm not going to start reviewing K-Dramas unless people want me to. 

Lost Worlds and Mythological Kingdoms Edited by John Joseph Adams: A Perfect Gift for the Sci-Fi fan in your life!

 

First of all, I'd like to thank Netgalley and the people at Grim Oak Press for access to this eARC as I now know what I'm getting my husband for his birthday!

Full Disclosure: this book was not my cup of tea. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi period but especially hollow earth (I detest hollow earth like I'm offended by it) and dystopian futures are at the top of my list of niche genres I normally would never read. To be honest given the title of the book and the cover I really thought this was going to lean more towards fantasy, so while I was a tad bit disappointed for myself, as I said in the title this is the exact type of book my husband would love, so that takes care of his birthday present! And even though I'm not a fan I found myself being sucked into many of the stories contained in this book. Surprisingly one of the stories that stood out the most for me was one that features Hollow Earth. And that's what makes this collection of stories worth the read, they are exceptionally well written. I found most of the stories to be unique and more than a few of them to be downright creepy. I also have to admit that there is at least one I'd like to see a full-length book come from it. 

So while I still am never going to purchase this book for myself and I don't like dystopian futures, hollow earths, or gates to other worlds/dimensions any more than I did before I read this I still have to say that overall it was a good book. 

P.S. Please enjoy this Godzilla gif, I tried to find some cheesy '50's Hollow Earth GIF, but I found this under the title of "Godzilla Blow a Hole to Hollow Earth" and as Godzilla is my Lord and Savior I figured it was fate. 

Pennyblade by J.L. Worrad

 

4.5 stars rounded up. 

First I'd like to thank #Netgalley and the good people over at #TitanBooks for allowing me to read an ARC. 

Kyra Cal'Adra is a Commrach Highblood (a noble of an Elf-like race) who finds herself exiled to the Mainland away from her home and everyone she loves working as Pennyblade (mercenary) for humans. There is no love lost between these two races and when Kyra is doublecrossed by her human Pennyblade partners she's not really surprised. However, as the story unfolds we find that this doublecross is more than it seems and that there are greater beings at work here, possibly the Devil himself and as Kyra teams up with a Sister of the church, the very man that doublecrossed her, and a half-breed Commrach Kyra's past and her present catch up with her with devasting results. 

I'm just going to address this right off the bat: Yes, there are what I'd even term as "vulgar" sex scenes in this book and I almost stopped reading it because of these. That being said I am so glad I kept reading it, as while I can't say for certain as I'm not the author I saw these opening scenes of promiscuity to be an important part of showing Kyra's growth as a character throughout the book. And I also found it to be an important commentary period on sexuality, especially after the introduction of Benadetta. 

I honestly thought this was going to be a straightforward fantasy novel but I found the story itself to be a commentary on sex and sexuality and how society's view of these two things affects how we view ourselves, as well as one on the responsibilities that are placed on us from family and our society. Also, the Commrach culture revolves around the "perfection of their race" through breeding. It's an interesting take on eugenics and while this book doesn't delve too deep into that side of things this theme is important to the book. 

I honestly think the only thing I found to be "wrong" with this book was there were times when I thought I'd missed something and would have to go back and reread it, which is the only reason I gave the book 4.5 instead of 5 stars. And to be honest, it may not be the book's fault, I started reading this rather late in the evening the other night so it could have just been me.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy with an LGBTQ+ twist. The author doesn't go too deep into any of the aforementioned themes but I found them to be just enough to make you think while reading it. And in the end, it's really just a love story, a sad one, but a love story nonetheless. 

Magic and The Shinigami Detective by Honor Raconteur

 

I genuinely do not believe I have laughed so much at a book in a very long time. This was one of the funniest, most adorable books I've read pretty much ever.

Our story starts with our heroine Jaime Edwards being forcibly brought to a different world by an evil and apparently insane witch. The witch is also kind of an idiot as she enhances Jaime's strength, speed, stamina and to top it off puts a spell on her that basically makes her impervious to anything that would cause her harm (if you are getting Isekai vibes that's because it basically is an Isekai). As Jaime is a survivor (and an FBI agent and possibly an Afghanistan war vet, there's some reference to her being in Afghanistan at one point but it's never elaborated on) she puts all of this to good use and kills the witch, who is apparently the world's most badass witch. Jaime then flees the cave the witch had been keeping her captive in arriving at a village where she is then transported to the capital of this new world to receive medical treatment. Where she then makes some friends in very high places which allows her to circumvent most of the countries rules and become a cop, where we meet her new partner Henri a magical examiner (think CSI for magic). The new partners are immediately thrown into a high-stakes case that will put Jaime's very life in jeopardy.

At some point in time, I just decided that Henri was a Hobbit who was is also in some way related to Negima (fantasy harem love comedy anime). And I feel no shame in admitting I fell in love with him almost immediately. Maybe it's because he seems to dislike the human race as much as I do, or because he's a giant smart-ass, but I think it was mostly because he was so freaking cute! And I loved Jaime just as much, as soon as she decided that she was snapping because she was making Wizard of Oz references I decided that Jaime was the type of person I'd want to hang out with in real life. To be honest, though I do not believe there was a character in this book I didn't like.

In terms of story progression, it moved at what I found to be the perfect pace as well and I never felt like there was too much or too little information given. It wasn't overly complicated in terms of Jaime, Henri, and friends coming up with a working theory and then applying a plan of action to catch the criminals in the end. In terms of the book being a solid detective story as well as an imaginative fantasy story, it hit all marks for me.

The only thing that kinda bugged me is that at some point Jaime mentions that she misses cats as this world doesn't have them. After describing what a cat is to Henri he has a vague recollection of seeing something similar, nothing much really goes into this until the end of the book when he presents Jaime with a magical construct another wizard created that just happens to be a cat. Even down to a cat's personality. It is purple but this thing is clearly recognizable as a cat on a planet that doesn't have cats. Now maybe in a later book, we'll find out that Jaime isn't the only person on the planet that comes from Earth with a love of cats, but this bugged me a bit. Probably more so because at the beginning of the book Jaime mentions she's wearing sweats and tennis shoes (things not invented on this planet yet) which drove me nuts until the author addresses it again where Jaime admits to having some made for her. This was such a tiny thing so for the author to make sure it was addressed but to not get a good explanation for that cat was kind of annoying. And I suppose even annoying is a strong word because like I said maybe it's a bit of foreshadowing.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and if you are a fan of Isekai this book would be right up your alley. I honestly found myself comparing this more to Isekai mangas/anime than any other genre while reading it other than the whole Henri is a Hobbit thing. And I really cannot stress enough that Henri is freaking adorable.

Oh shoot and I almost forgot: Weredonkeys. I did not know I needed weredonkeys in my life, now I know I did. Do they figure largely into the story? No, but are there still Weredonkeys in the story, yes and that's all that matters.

Shadow Shinjuku by Ryu Takeshi

  

    It isn't very often that a book throws me for a complete loop, that what I had expected and what I actually got ended up being two very different things. Shadow Shinjuku did that in the most wonderful way possible. 

Sato is an orphan living on the street when one day a man walks by his cardboard box and offers him a job and if he does well the opportunity to get off the street. Sato, of course, does well and the man, who is the leader of a Yakuza family, takes him in and Sato eventually becomes an assassin. For most of his life he's just done what was asked of him, he owed Boss Yamaguchi his life it was the least he could do, right? But lately Sato's been questioning his life and when he meets Boss's daughter Ren he begins questioning what he's done even more.

This book was a wonderful meandering tale of the bonds we create by choice and the ones we have no choice but to form. Sato's questioning of bonds he has formed whether by choice or by a feeling of obligation I found to be something many of us can relate to, the manner in which that author presents these questions borders on poetic.

And yeah, it was really slow going but in the best way possible. The book really revolves around Sato's inner dialogue and through this, we get a vivid picture of Tokyo at night and those that inhabit shadows found there.

And yes there is magic. And Sato does remove some truly evil bastards heads from their body so there's a bit of violence in it. But, seriously, truly evil bastards.

The only drawback I found was some of the dialogue between Sato and other characters seemed very clipped, unnatural, and downright awkward sometimes. That being said, I didn't find these conversations enough of a hindrance to the story to give it less than five stars.

I really hope the author plans on this being a series because the end is a cliffhanger and I really want to know what happens next.

January To Be Read List

    The title of this post really should read "Books I hope to finish before the end of the month but probably won't" List. To be read just sounds more like I'll actually finish them all. The possibility of this is slim to none, given one of them is the I Ching, which I have only a minimal understanding of at present, so I have a feeling probably about half of these will carry over into next month. 

Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

    This is a reread, this series is one of my favorite all-time series and a go-to when I want to read something but can't make a decision.

The Monk by Matthew Lewis

    I have mountains of "classics" that I either have never read or read when I was much younger and believe a reread is in order. So my one and only "resolution" this year was to get through not just these but my non-fiction books as well. In terms of this book specifically, this is one I have never read. So far I've only read the first chapter but I was surprised to find it to be A. Less difficult to read than I expected given the publication date and B. Engrossing. I suppose they aren't called "classics" for nothing. 

Call of the Bone Ships by RJ Barker

    I purchased this almost immediately after finishing the first one and have simply not taken the time to sit down and read it. I was kind of waiting until I picked up the third book but I loved the first one so much I decided I'd start it this month. 

The Empress by Karen Miller

I started reading this one morning months ago. Totally got into it and breezed through the first chapters easily, set it down that same day, and haven't had an inclination to pick it back up. Don't get me wrong what I read of it was exceptionally well done, the world-building is wonderful, the main character so far is great, it's just really really long. As I rounded out December and into January by finishing up several five to six hundred page long books starting another incredibly long book simply seemed daunting at the time but it's been a few weeks now so I'm hoping to dedicate some time to finish this before the end of the month. 

A Bond Undone by Jin Yong

    This has been on hold simply because it's the second book in the series and I decided I wanted to read the first one first but then after reading a bit of it decided that I could probably get through this one without reading the first one, so to the list of books to finish this month it goes. 

Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles by Kim Newman

    I'm about halfway through this one and it is phenomenal as expected. I'm not going to go into much about it right now because I want to finish it before forming any opinions but this might actually be better than Anno Dracula which would be quite a feat. Newman has definitely become one of my favorite authors. 

Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley

    I'm just gonna say it, Alison Weir uses too many words. And look I get it, this is a complicated matter of political bs, when political bs included things like being forced to marry douchebags, but oh man is this long-winded. That being said I am oddly enjoying it I just find I can only read about thirty pages at a time before I have to put it down. I really just want to get to the point where Weir lets us know what her theory is. I'm currently about halfway through it and I can say the best part of this is that Weir makes it perfectly clear that there were a shit ton of people who would have liked to see Lord Darnley dead and I've yet to form a strong opinion on who actually did do it. Personally, I'm hoping Weir's theory is just that everyone put their differences aside and got together to end the pompous asshole. 

The Taoist I Ching by Liu Yiming and translated by Thomas Cleary

    Remember how I mentioned earlier that I had a lot of classic literature to read? Well, I have an equal amount of non-fiction, philosophy, and religious texts that need to be read as well. In terms of philosophy, I decided to start East and head West and after rereading the Analects of Confucious I decided this was the next logical stop. 

The Lazarus Gate by Mark A. Latham

    So I kinda set this down somewhere in my kid's room about two months ago and they lost it, so I haven't finished it simply because I haven't been able to locate it. To be fair given I have eight other books going right now this will probably be pushed out to Feb. 

Top 10 Reads of 2021

  When I decided to start this blog figuring out what my first post was going to be about was difficult. Breaking the ice virtually is a difficult thing to do. So after much internal debate about whether this first post should be an About Me post or just a review of the latest book I finished (it was the Analects of Confucious for some reason reviewing centuries-old philosophy seems kind of pointless. At this point, Confuciousism is something that is almost incorporated into everyday life. Many people to an extent practice what he preaches without even realizing it) I decided since it was the beginning of the year I'd do my top ten from last year. I think that's a really good way to allow those of you reading this to get a good idea of what my reading style is. 

    Last year I decided I wanted to start reading books from the early to mid-twentieth century that had escaped my notice. I found in many of these books absolute treasures from some well-known authors and some that were not so well known. So the publication dates for this list are really all over the place and I honestly don't believe any books actually published in 2021 made the list. I also want to say before I get to the list that I decided to dub last summer "The Year of the Vampire", I read numerous and many fantastic vampire tales (none of which sparkled) over the course of last summer and to be honest it's been hard to not make this list simply one giant list of awesome tales of vamps from various writers throughout the twentieth century. So if you are a fan of vampires this list contains a couple of overlooked tales that I personally believe deserve to be considered "must-reads" for this niche genre. 

    As a side note, these books are not ranked in any particular order. I'd also like to add two honorable mentions that didn't quite make the list here Jay Kristoff's Empire of the Vampire and Miles Cameron's The Red Knight. Both of these books just missed being on this list because they are beasts of books being over six hundred pages apiece. I have a tendency to gravitate towards longer books but I know many people do not, that being said even for those that don't for fans of fantasy both of these books are exceptional. 

Tales of the Kin series by Douglas Hulick. 

    A few years ago I stumbled upon the Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch quite by accident. It wasn't even remotely like my normal reading style at the time but to be honest I had insomnia and decided to give it a shot. It now ranks as one of my all-time favorite series and really opened the door for me to explore a genre that has become one of my favorites. After rereading the series (for what seems like the hundredth time) last year I decided I wanted to find something similar, Among Thieves was one of the first books recommended. I ended up finishing Among Thieves in just a few hours! Anti-heroes are my weakness and Drothe is an exceptional anti-hero. Hulick's writing style is fast-paced and action-packed but he also pays attention to small details that many authors seem to overlook, he was especially good at creating a sense of place by using the reader's sense of smell, which I think is a weird thing to point out but when you really think about it it's an important aspect of really immersing the reader into a scene. I found that his descriptions of everything from the food served in Drothe's world to the stench of garbage was something that many books I've read over the years lacked. And I'm not gonna lie his descriptions of food made me ridiculously hungry. 

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

   Another anti-hero (seriously favorite type of character so ya know this will be a running theme) who captured my heart was Kaz Brecker. Really his whole gang but Kaz is absolutely amazing. His backstory is tragic, his rise in power is fueled by revenge, his feelings for Inej are complicated, and he's an absolute smartass. He's the best. I think I'm probably one of the few people who liked this duology (I hope to every god ever that Bardugo continues this series) more than her Grishaverse. I think I've read the first two books in that series and I've really had no inclination to read the rest (I will eventually it's just not a priority) I read these two books in the course of a weekend. I found Bardugo's writing far more mature in this series as well as her characters far more complex thus making them not just more relatable but likable. 

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

    As I said earlier I had what I like to call "The Summer of the Vampire" last year this being one of the two books on vampires that I found to be a crowning achievement of taking an old story (several old stories actually in Anno Dracula) and breathing amazingly original new life into it. Newman breaks don't just break down the fourth wall he shatters it. And I think what makes them so interesting in his version of Dracula, he's like no Dracula I've ever come across in books or movies and I found it to be such an original much-needed change on the typical Dracula. His writing style is incredibly unique as well. This was simply like no other Vampire book I've read. 

 

The Holmes-Dracula File by Fred Saberhagen

    Another wonderfully original take on Dracula meeting up with the world's favorite detective. I have to say that the reason I found this book so fun was because Dracula is really the perfect English gentleman in this. And oh yes there are many retellings of Dracula that we find him to be a gentleman but I found this one particularly interesting because he is just so annoyed over the bad press that he's received over the years thanks to Bram Stoker's book. And of course, it's got Sherlock Holmes in it so you really can't go wrong with this book as a fan of vampires or Holmes. 

The Bone Ships by RJ Barker

    I am not going to lie I walked past this book about a hundred times at my local Barnes and Noble. I'd pick it up, read the description, and put it back. Ships made out of dragon bones and pirates, it sounded like it would end up being cliche. I finally picked it up because my husband pointed out that every time I went into the store I wandered over to it read the back once again, and put it down once again. So for all intents and purposes without my husband being annoyed with my being nitpicky I'd have never read this, which would have been a damn shame. There is absolutely nothing cliche about this book. Barker's world is incredibly unique even for a fantasy novel. And his world-building is easily one of the finest I've ever read. His characters are also absolutely some of the best written, Joron especially. Joron's character progress is just, well, it's fucking perfect, he is one of the most complete characters I've ever read. In the end what really made this one of my favorite books is that it's got heart. I don't think I have another way to describe it other than that. What I was expecting was some run-of-the-mill fantasy book with pirates and dragons what I got was a beautiful story about one man's journey to find himself and the badass woman who gave him the push he needed to do so. I teared up at the end of it. To be honest, if I had to say which of these ten were my actual favorite of last year this one would be it. 

From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury

This was simply one of the sweetest commentaries on the family I've ever read. I hugged this book when I was done with it because this book was just a giant hug. 

The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

    Full disclosure: I judge books by their cover and this one is one that ranks at the top of my "I would never read this" list. After reading this I decided I should probably break this habit because this book was hilarious and unique among a niche genre that has gained a lot of traction. I love retellings especially of fairy tales and I think that because I do love this very specific genre I have a tendency to be very picky about them. Instead of making just cosmetic changes to the world of fairy tales, Lackey changes almost everything about them while still keeping them recognizable as the tales they are meant to represent. What makes her version of these tales so unique is the very point of the Tradition at the heart of this story is to do exactly that, keep the story intact while the Fairy Godmother must find clever ways to make them a little more bearable to the would-be victims of the Tradition. And really this book is just a lot of fun, with a "And they lived happily ever after" ending, which I am a complete sucker for. 

Bride of the Water God by Mi-Kyung Yun and translated by Heejeong Haas

Yes, I absolutely 100% went in search of this manga series after watching The Bride of Habaek on Netflix (if you like K-Dramas and haven't watched it yet you should stop what you are doing and go watch it it was fantastic). I have no regrets. As a reader of manga for just about twenty years, I am confident when I say that this is one of the most beautiful mangas ever drawn. The art in this is on par with (maybe even slightly better than) the art of CLAMP. Ranking somewhere right beneath the art of Yoshitaka Amano. I found some of the translations to be rough but not so much that the point of the story is lost. Currently, I'm only on the fourth (or maybe the fifth) manga in the series so I can't comment on the overall story but so far it's a wonderful tale of a cursed god and the human bride he has taken. 

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

    Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of my all-time favorite books, and like with stories of Dracula, I read every retelling of Frankenstein I come across. It's probably one of the only books that I read retellings of because I find it fascinating that there are so many different interpretations of the message Shelley has in the original book. And really I don't have to read retellings of the story to see that, just a few weeks ago a friend posted on Facebook what he thought Shelley's message was which resulted in three hundred comments plus debating the book. Needless to say, I, like everyone on that ridiculously long post have my own take on it and if I had to write a retelling of Frankenstein the way I interpreted it, this would absolutely be the book I wrote.

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
    

    I'm just going to throw it out there and get it over with, I can't stand the Dresden Files, I've tried, I actually own the first five or six books and have read at least three of them, and every time I finish one and say; welp that was anticlimatic a fan will say, "The next one, read the next one, it gets a lot better." The thing is there are seventeen books in the Dresden files and I have only so much time to devote to discovering which book it is that Harry Dresden becomes less of a whiny self-absorbed borderline incel asshat. Okay maybe borderline incel is a little much, but c'mon there's only one type of man that reminds everyone that he's a "gentleman" at every opportunity. I can imagine you are all wondering what this has to do with Midnight Riot? Well, as I read it is was very difficult to not compare it to Dresden Files because this is exactly what I had been looking for in an urban fantasy book and everything Dresden fans claim Dresden is and is most certainly not. Peter Grant is funny, resourceful, and has an innate curiosity that I found relatable. The incorporation of the Gods and Goddesses of the Rivers found in and around London was highly original and Aaronvitch never loses sight of the fact that this is a murder mystery. He incorporates both the supernatural side of things and the police work side of things in a manner where neither overwhelms the other and weaves a truly suspenseful "whodunnit" plot. When we finally do discover who the murderer is it is a moment of "OMG how did I miss that!?" And "OMFG NO WAY!" And if you are a fan of The Rook duology (one of my all-time favorite series) this book will be right up your alley.